Rising Empire
by Lordius Dannius
Summary: The perfect Sonic robot. An enhanced jackal mercenary. A defective badnik prototype. A cybernetic fox. A loud-mouthed bounty huntress. This was Eggman's team - a team which helped him take over the world. They were brutal. Merciless. They all had their own stories, and stories are always destined to end. Set during Sonic Forces.
1. The Team

_**Rising Empire**_

**~The Team~**

The Eggman Empire was growing.

Ever since the discovery of the Phantom Ruby, and the defeat of Sonic the Hedgehog, Eggman's forces had been storming their way across the planet, taking out the citizens of the world who dared to resist.

The Empire mainly consisted of machines, but there were few individuals who did not quite fit the standard "Egg Mech" category. It was these individuals who often interacted with one another, considering that they had no other socialising options.

So, who were these individuals?

Possibly the closest to being a standard "Egg Mech" was Metal Sonic, an intelligence and advanced war machine created by Doctor Eggman. Despite his lack of ability to speak, his personality was still something he could communicate just by his actions, and it was easy to tell that he was a cold and heartless killer.

Next was Metal Sniper, a slightly smaller robot which bared some resemblance to Metal Sonic, and for a good reason, too. He was a prototype for a badnik model designed to evolve based on individual experiences, and these models would all accompany, assist and obey Metal Sonic, but the technology used to create Metal Sniper was so advanced (with it even being used to create a highly-articulated face with a mouth), and his evolutionary qualities granted him a level of free will which Eggman loathed. Still, the "young" robot was not one which deserved to be scrapped, even with his malfunctions and programming errors, so he remained in the base as an assistant.

Then there was a Mobian fox. It may seem odd for a Mobian to go against his kind, but considering the fact that his fox had robotic legs, a scarred face with a robotic left eye and even a robotic left ear, with the rest of his body being powered by external robotic enhancements on his chest and down his arms, it seemed as if this silver fox had a story. He had a reason to be here, and he was passionate about it. This fox was known as Remnant, but many individuals, including those in this unusual group, were well aware that Remnant was a name he had given himself, and his former name had been completely abandoned.

And then there was the fleshiest of them all: Tawny. A coyote with brow fur and dark red hair tied back into a high ponytail. She was the newest member of the team, who was still waiting for her unique Empire uniform to be made. Currently she wore dark green shorts and a purple vest, along with long brown gloves and tall black boots tipped and shaded with brown. She was a bounty hunter and her loyalties varied depending on who was paying her the most, but considering the power and money Eggman's Empire now had, she would definitely be staying for a while.

"So, do any of you know why we're here?" the female coyote asked as the group stood together in one of the many small, lab-like briefing rooms. She frowned upon meeting Metal Sonic's cold, menacing stare. "Oh, right, you can't even talk."

"The Commander is assigning us locations to control," Remnant spoke up with venom in his voice. "Have you honestly never been briefed before?"

"Not really," Tawny shrugged, smirking. "Never been part of an army, unlike you. And the robots don't count, they're designed to be briefed and stuff."

"We're right here!" Sniper huffed childishly as he momentarily stopped stacking gold rings on top of each other.

"I was never in an army," Remnant hissed at Tawny, narrowing his one remaining eye. "You should know that."

"Well, you used to do something kinda like that a long time ago," Tawny brushed off. Her ignorance only caused Remnant to glare further at her, but everyone immediately stood to attention when the Commander entered the room.

The Commander. The one who was in control of Eggman's army. If Eggman wasn't around, then he would be the top dog. Or, in this case, top jackal. This individual was known as Infinite, and he was not someone anyone – Empire or Resistance – wanted to get on the bad side of. He was ruthless. Merciless. Sadistic. And his expressionless mask which hid his face only made him more terrifying. But the most interesting feature of his was the jewel on his chest, which hummed and pulsated lowly as he used it to slowly float into the room, and the sound only came to an abrupt end when the black-furred jackal stopped floating and stood before the misfits.

"The world is already crumbling," he commented through what sounded like a subtle voice filter. "It won't be long before it is under our complete control." He turned his head slightly, eyeing each individual standing before him. "Their armed forces are no match for the doctor's machines, but we need to dominate what they are trying to protect. Cities. Landscapes. They all must be ours."

The masked jackal paced to a control panel and activated an electronic map of the world, gesturing to it. "The areas in red are where we have already conquered," he informed. "As you can see, we have not fully taken over much of the planet yet, but we are close." He walked closer to the group to face them again. "We are going to destroy what little foundations they have remaining, which will allow us to control more of the world. We will eventually push back any remaining rebels, and we will exterminate them once they are cornered."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Sniper asked, almost seeming bored of the military discussion. Infinite's head turned sharply and he glared at the small machine, and the robot almost immediately looked frightened.

"Do not interrupt me, robot," the jackal warned. "The doctor has already expressed interest in scrapping you; he's reworking your design into something much less… infuriating."

"I was just asking…" Sniper grumbled, lowering his head. Infinite looked ready to give the machine a brutal dent, but he controlled himself, especially after seeing a small step forwards from Metal Sonic, who now had his glowing red eyes on the commander. Infinite merely sighed and readjusted his mask, then proceeding to indirectly answer Sniper's question.

"You all have individual tasks," he announced, quickly glancing at Sniper. "Except you. You're with Metal Sonic."

"Woohoo!" Sniper cheered, but immediately silenced himself when both Metal Sonic and Infinite stared at him with a warning look. It was then when Infinite decided to continue speaking.

"Metal Sonic, you will be deployed here," he announced, once again gesturing to the map as he pointed to Green Hill's Arsenal Pyramid location, with further pyramids still being built. "You and Metal Sniper will annihilate any soldiers who intend to damage the construction site. Kill them to set an example, and perhaps bring some to the Death Egg as… "test subjects"." His gaze fell upon Remnant, who wore a face full of pure hatred and anger, and after a small silence, he addressed the cybernetic fox. "You will be stationed here," he said, gesturing to Metropolis on the map. "This is our capital. You need to prevent any forces from crossing our border. Your instructions remain the same as Metal Sonic's."

"Understood," Remnant acknowledged, firmly nodding his head.

It was then that Infinite looked to Tawny. "The doctor wants you to head to the Mystic Jungle in search of Shadow the Hedgehog," he instructed. "It is likely that he will appear there, and if he does, you must capture him and bring him back to our fortress."

"Shadow, huh?" Tawny reacted, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "I've never dealt with such a well-known target…"

"Do not fail," Infinite cut in, glaring hard at the coyote to emphasize his point, then staring at the group. "That goes for you all. We do not tolerate failure."

"Explains why you guys have failed so many times…" Tawny muttered. Having already heard enough from her mouth, Infinite raised his hand and caused the ground beneath her to pixelate and break away. The coyote fell, and the ground quickly closed up again.

"Would anyone else like to criticise the doctor's methods?" he asked in a somewhat sinister tone. Metal and Remnant were both silent, and only Sniper seemed as if he wanted to speak up, but he swiftly silenced himself when Infinite glared at him and raised a hand warningly. With silence now in the air, Infinite nodded his head. "Good," he commented as he then floated into the air. "I will be in the city, dealing with the rabble there. If any of you find yourselves needing help… then I advise that you question the value of your own life."

"So, um, where did Tawny go?" Sniper questioned quietly, almost flinching after asking the question. Infinite just raised his hand again, and this time the ceiling pixelated itself away. Tawny fell through and hit the floor flatly, with the others now beginning to leave the room on Infinite's order.

Tawny sat herself up and shook her head, then rubbing it in an attempt to clear her dizziness and confusion. Infinite briefly paused beside her and stared down at her.

"Respect those who are superior to you, dog," he growled. "Otherwise I will personally put a slow end to your existence." With that said, he glided out of the room, with Tawny now rising to her feet and dusting herself off. She wore an unamused frown, but overall did not seem too phased by Infinite's threat, and instead followed the group to go and carry out her assignment.

This was the beginning of Team Eggman's rise and Team Sonic's fall.

**~End of Chapter~**


	2. Metal Sonic: Defence of Construction

**~Metal Sonic: Defence of Construction~**

Even for certain robots, disappointment was still something that could be felt. For Metal Sonic, he was disappointed at how much he was being cast aside and used for lesser purposes. There was once a time when he was the greatest robot on the planet. He was once Doctor Eggman's sidekick, who accompanied him loyally wherever he went, even after his rebellion. But now Doctor Eggman had two non-combat robots to advise and assist him: Orbot and Cubot. As for combat, Eggman would rely on his traditional mass-produced badniks. No longer was the doctor going to give Metal Sonic upgrades, but instead he would just build more robots in hopes of overwhelming his foes. And then there was Infinite, the doctor's new ally who seemingly came out of nowhere. Why give a jackal the power of the Phantom Ruby instead of a loyal robot which was built to adapt? Why trust a mercenary, who had previously tried to kill the doctor, over a powerful and merciless machine?

"This is gonna be awesome!" came the loud voice belonging to Metal Sniper as he hovered beside the blue bot. "You and me, defending this super important construction site? We're a dream duo!"

Metal Sonic barely acknowledged the smaller machine's words, not watching as he flew around excitably. Instead, Metal was focused on keeping his eyes peeled for any potential threats. The other robots working on the construction of the pyramid were not programmed to look out for danger, nor did they have the intelligence to act accordingly upon spotting something unusual.

Nothing was really happening, which Metal actually found to be even more disappointing about this whole scenario. He wanted to fight. He wanted to destroy. Right now, there was a war going on, and he wasn't even doing anything. To add insult to injury, his _clones _were fighting in his place. Why? Why were they fighting and not him? Why were mindless illusions considered better fighters than the greatest invention Eggman had ever made?

He used his eyes to zoom in, just so that he could see further into the distance, and still nothing. Nobody was attacking. There was nothing here.

This is what winning felt like.

What would happen once Eggman won? Would he never fight ever again?

Would he be disassembled?

It only made sense. Who would need a killer robot when there was nothing to kill or destroy? Who would need a mechanical clone of Sonic once Sonic was executed at the end of this war?

Nobody.

Sniper's excitable babbling had been completely tuned out. Usually Metal could listen to what others were saying while he allowed his artificial thoughts to process, but Sniper was somehow mute to his ears. Everything he was saying was meaningless to him. Why listen to the errored prototype machine when he had other things to focus on?

Speaking of focus, his eyes found something after what seemed like hours to him – even his internal clock was convinced a good while had passed. In the distance he had spotted a small group of mildly frightened Mobian soldiers. They had crouched down behind a small hill of sand, and they were gesturing to each other while trying to use a minimal number of words to avoid being heard. Too bad; they had been easily spotted by the blue battle bot.

Metal Sonic launched himself towards the group as fast as he could, without even giving any warning to Sniper.

"Hey!" the smaller hedgebot yelled before flying after Metal. Metal didn't slow down at all for him, and merely flew directly towards the group of Mobians, who now stared wide-eyed in fear as they barely had any time to react to the machine crashing into them.

One of the Mobians Metal had tackled seemed to be the leader of the group, as he was the first to stand up and regain his composure. He was a tough-looking grey wolf – the type of individual Metal knew what to do with.

"Everyone, change of plan!" the wolf bellowed. "We have to take out Metal Sonic!"

"AND Metal Sniper!" Sniper added with a hint of agitation in his robotic voice. None of the soldiers even seemed to acknowledge his presence. The silver hedgebot was greatly offended at this, but didn't speak anymore words and instead chose to activate the lasers which were dormant in his arms, firing at any soldiers he could aim at.

The soldiers definitely all had their attention on Metal Sonic, but Metal was mostly interested in their leader. He grabbed the wolf by his throat and flew high into the air, and the wolf's crew could only stare upwards in horror until they finally took notice of Sniper's irritating laser shots. They reacted defensively, not wanting to lose their current target who posed much more of a threat, especially to their leader who was now the target's hostage.

Metal locked eyes with the wolf as he held him. It didn't take long for the organic life form to give up with his struggle, and his glare was one of pure hatred.

"Do it, then," the wolf snarled. "Finish me off, you dumb bucket of bolts."

Metal's stare remained on the wolf, which further infuriated his prey. The wolf started kicking his legs and punching Metal in the arms and head, trying to get some sort of reaction out of the robot. It was clear that he wanted to die now rather than suffer, but that wasn't what Metal had in mind. No; he remembered Infinite's order quite clearly. He could kill, but he could also bring some opponents back as test subjects for some of Eggman's experiments. That was exactly what he was going to do.

The Sonic copy watched as Metal Sniper fought with the remaining soldiers, so he figured he could leave him alone with them for a minute while he secured his catch. He simply flew towards one of the completed pyramids, with the rebel fighter squirming in his grasp, and had him tied up, where he was then left to be guarded by some of the spare Egg Pawns. Metal was preparing to leave, but the wolf spoke up.

"You will never win!" he howled with rage. "The citizens of this world will never bow to you or your master! We will never stop fighting!"

Metal listened to his words, but didn't care, and simply took to the skies once again, returning swiftly to the fight with the wolf's squad. He could see Metal Sniper still hovering in the air high above them, but he hadn't done much damage. In fact, Sniper hadn't even noticed an armed cat Mobian preparing to strike the boosters in his feet which were keeping him in the air. Before the cat could carry out her attack, however, Metal span like a drill and shot towards her as burning electricity surrounded his body. He clashed with the cat, and she remained on the ground, never to recover.

"Metal!" Sniper greeted with a grin. "Thought I'd be dealing with these guys for much longer."

Metal's eyes were on the remaining organic life forms, who now looked much more wary of the blue hedgebot. Their fear meant nothing to him, though. He didn't care if they hesitated or begged for mercy; all he cared about was killing them. His chest laser began to charge up, and the group proceeded to spread out, meaning that Metal could only take out one of them. He fired his fully-charged laser at a stumbling bear, and he fell just as quickly as the cat had. Sniper made an attempt to fire both of his arm lasers, each aimed at different targets, but he only fired at the ground beneath their feet. One of his targets fell as a result of this move, leaving the fallen individual to become the next victim of Metal's own laser. Metal then finished Sniper's second target off simply by grabbing him by the arm and expelling more electric energy, throwing the body towards the last two Mobians. Metal hovered up into the air and raised his hands, and from them he fired a bolt of blue lightning into the sky, which came back down to strike the duo. Once the dust cleared from this attack, Metal scanned each body and was able to confirm that there were no survivors.

"Whew, that was awesome!" Sniper chirped happily. "I mean, I know you did most of the work, but I still contributed! Did you see how that one guy fell over because my laser almost hit him directly?! Next time I'll be even better at this!"

Again, Sniper's ramblings never interested Metal, but this time the silver hedgebot's words went through his computer mind. Metal almost shook his head in disbelief at Sniper's confidence; it was obvious that the childish robot would never be able to improve on his skills so quickly. He may never learn at all, considering the fact that Sniper was labelled as a defective model ever since the day he was first activated.

Metal just flew back towards the pyramid where he left his wolf hostage, leaving Sniper in confusion for a brief moment. The killer robot grabbed the wolf, knocked him unconscious with a simple punch to the head and then returned to Sniper, and he held the wolf out to the other machine as if holding out a trash bag. Sniper looked at the wolf and then at Metal a good few times before finally questioning the gesture.

"What?" he queried. "What do you want _me _to do about that?"

Metal's unchanging gaze remained on Sniper, and he kept the wolf held out, even moving slightly closer just to make his point clearer. Surely Sniper had listened to the instructions Infinite had given to them both.

Then again, he wouldn't be surprised if Sniper hadn't listened to anything that was said during the meeting.

"Do you want me to punch him or something?" Sniper asked, scratching his head for no real reason besides expressing confusion. "Kill him? Laser him for target practice? Wake him up and have a conversation with him?"

Finally, Metal did what he rarely did and made a robotic sound, which was best described as one of slight irritation and anger. Sniper stared at him and the wolf for a few more moments, with his orange eyes 'blinking' as he concentrated on his thoughts, before he finally seemed to understand what Metal wanted him to do.

"Ohhhh!" he gasped. "You want me to take him back to our base for Eggman!"

Metal only responded with a single nod and another robotic sound, this time being a noise of approval. Sniper took the wolf from the taller badnik, although he had to hold him with both hands whereas Metal had only been holding him with one. He gave Metal a typical Sniper grin and nodded with determination before saying:

"Don't worry, Metal, I'll be just as quick as you!"

Having said his final few words, Sniper zipped away at full speed – a speed which almost matched Metal Sonic's. Still, even with such speed, Metal knew that Sniper wouldn't be quick. His flight speed was fast, but his reaction speed was slow, so any obstacles would slow him down. Plus, he was easily distracted and was just slow at doing most tasks in general.

With Metal Sniper now gone, and with no rebels in sight, Metal Sonic now stood guard of the construction site alone.

It didn't seem like anything interesting would happen for a good while now.

**~End of Chapter~**


	3. Remnant: Border Control

**~Remnant: Border Control~**

It was quiet. Peaceful. Something unusual during this destructive time. Metropolis was a secure place to be, especially now that Sonic wasn't around to infiltrate it, and the border was particularly silent because nobody was there. The robot guards didn't talk among each other, so not even the sound of a casual conversation could be heard.

To Remnant, this was fine. It didn't hurt to take a break from terrorising the opposition. Moments of peace would be rare even after the war was over, because Eggman seemed to enjoy being loud with everything he did.

Although, adoring the quiet did not mean that Remnant disliked violence. He _loved _violence. Being partially enhanced by cybernetics, Remnant was almost like a robot when it came down to his lack of emotion and brutality, yet he wasn't unfeeling enough to not get joy out of watching his foes die. It was an unsettling balance between the mechanical and the living.

Remnant would have been lost in thought completely, but his robotic eye was constantly tuned in to the world around him. It picked up on nearby movement, and immediately the silver fox used his mechanical feet to fly downwards, with a landing that was loud and clear just to let any intruders know that he was there.

The fox was then silent as he slowly scanned the area just outside the city. There were still plenty of trees and bushes to use as cover, but one day Eggman would be sure to get rid of those obstacles.

Remnant made sure his artificial right ear was turned up to the highest sensitivity, and immediately he was able to hear the sound of quiet breathing. It was coming from behind a tree, so Remnant flew behind it as fast as he could and grabbed whoever was there.

He had grabbed a brown-furred thylacine – one he seemed to recognise. But he would not let that thought distract him as he grabbed the Mobian by his throat and held him up against the tree he had been hiding behind.

"I should kill you," the fox thought out loud, "but thylacines are rare. I'm sure the doctor would have use for you."

"I'd rather die!" the thylacine spat fiercely, struggling to make Remnant loosen his grip.

"Exactly," Remnant responded almost with a smirk. "I'm not going to give you what you prefer."

Remnant flew into the air, still with the thylacine in his grasp, and simply returned to his post. The thylacine struggled all the way there, but not once did he come close to escaping. Even when Remnant had landed, the thylacine continued to struggle, but then he stopped and examined the cybernetic fox with his brown eyes. He squinted, and then he scowled.

"No way…" he murmured. "I remember you…"

"I haven't existed for long," Remnant corrected, not giving the thylacine any eye-contact. "We have never met."

"No, no, we have," the thylacine insisted. "Silver fur… naturally red eyes… You were part of that mercenary squad!"

"You're thinking of Mercury," Remnant hissed coldly. "Mercury was killed."

"Don't try messing with me," the thylacine snarled at him. "I know what happened to Mercury and his squad. They were all ambushed by the jackals. I was told directly about the event, and I know which ones got out alive." The brown-furred Mobian tilted his head. "Is that why you're all robotic and stuff? Because you barely survived the attack?"

Remnant wasn't really listening at this point. All he knew was that he had let this smug marsupial run his mouth for long enough, so he flew into the city and landed on the tallest building near to him. He held the individual out using only one hand, giving him a good look of the busy world far below him.

"I will drop you," Remnant told him quietly and without emotion, his eyes locked onto the Tasmanian tiger. "You will fall from this height, and I won't catch you."

"Do it, then," the thylacine dared. "Drop me, Mercury."

So, he did.

Remnant let go, and simply listened to the horrified screams of the thylacine as they echoed and faded away, and he admired the sight as he fell further and further down.

Just a few more seconds…

That was enough.

Remnant jumped down and flew as fast as he could until he was flying beside the falling Mobian. They locked eyes, with the thylacine's terrified gaze proving that he believed his death was coming. That was the terror Remnant liked seeing.

But the fun would always end so fast when death occurred, especially one this quick, so he grabbed the thylacine suddenly and flew towards a wall, where the fox used both his hands to pin him.

"Do not push me," he warned lowly. "I'm never going to kill you. You're never going to die. You're going to suffer. You're going to break." He tilted his head to the side. "Is that clear, Rang?"

The thylacine's eyes widened when he heard his name spoken. It confirmed that the pair knew each other, or at the very least knew of one another, but before Rang could question it, Remnant slammed the back of his head against the wall and knocked him unconscious, letting him flop to the ground.

Remnant took out his transceiver to communicate with the rest of his group. "Team, this is Remnant. Someone's gonna need to pick up this thylacine I've incapacitated – I don't want such a rare species to go to waste when the doctor could use them."

There was a silence for a moment, but then one of his teammates spoke up. _"Metal and I will get it!"_ he heard the loud voice of Metal Sniper shout, making him need to readjust his ear sensitivity. _"We've got some of our own captives to bring back, anyway!"_

"Tch, I forgot we had an obnoxious child on the team," he grumbled. "Be quick, robot; I have a border to control."

"_Alright, alright, I'll be flying by soon!"_ Sniper huffed.

"You?" Remnant growled. "Without Metal Sonic? I'd trust a Motobug over you."

"_I can do it!"_ Sniper insisted. _"Metal's gotta keep watch over the construction site and stuff, y'know!"_

"Right, because leaving you in charge of that would be giving the enemy an immediate victory," Remnant retorted, mostly to himself. "Whatever. Hurry up and get this thing off my hands." The fox gave Sniper no time to respond, simply choosing to switch off his transceiver before flying back to his border post with the unconscious Rang in his grasp. He dropped him and left him on the ground, choosing to stare out into the distance as he watched for more trouble.

Nothing was going to happen. Nothing major. The enemy was struggling now that Sonic was gone, and victories happened for Doctor Eggman daily. They were more focused on defending their own territories than attacking others.

The silver fox let his thoughts wander as he occasionally glanced down at Rang. It was irritating that the one person he encountered had to be someone who knew secrets they shouldn't know regarding Remnant's life. It was something he wanted nothing to do with anymore.

But there was nothing that could be done. Remnant couldn't just kill Rang out of anger, since it would benefit both his own interest and the doctor's interest if Rang were brought back for other purposes. So, Remnant merely sat there and waited for Sniper to show up.

Hopefully the day would go by faster so that he could be moved to a more interesting post in this war.

**~End of Chapter~**


	4. Tawny: Shadow Hunt

**~Tawny: Shadow Hunt~**

Hunting for Shadow.

Who knew that she would be tasked with something this difficult?

If anyone should be dealing with Shadow out of everyone on her team, then Remnant would have been the better choice. Maybe Metal Sonic, too, considering he had fought and even worked with Shadow in the past. Or Infinite, since he, too, had history with the red-streaked hedgehog.

But instead, Tawny was the one who was hunting him down. Sure, bounty hunting was her job, but this was Shadow. _Shadow. _He was the Ultimate Lifeform. She was just a coyote with a grappling hook.

She had to admit to herself that she was a _little _bit concerned for her own safety. Some victims of Shadow never even saw him coming, and he didn't even remember them once they were out of his way – perhaps he didn't even know they were even there at all, and destruction was simply a natural response when dealing with obstacles.

Well, Tawny couldn't think like that now. She had to be silent and focus as she stalked the jungle. Perhaps she truly could be the one to find Shadow and confine him. Who knows that could happen if she failed? If Shadow didn't kill her, then she'd no doubt be killed by Eggman or Infinite for not succeeding in such a simple task.

A noise caught her attention, rustling in the bushes, causing Tawny's ears to stand tall. Someone was here. Were they waiting to strike her? There were lots of people she had angered in the past, so she wasn't going to wait to find out if the hiding individual was a friend or foe, prompting her to make the first move. She drew out a jagged green dagger and dived into the bush she had heard the sound from, and her suspicions were confirmed: someone was there. The coyote pinned them on their back, with her dagger raised, but her expression went from fierce determination to surprise.

"Endo?" she reacted.

Beneath her was a jackal of a grey/brown colour, wearing black biker boots and gloves along with a golden-buckled black belt, fitted with a side bag and combat knife holster. The blue combat knife hadn't been drawn, though, as it was still holstered, which proved that this jackal had no intention of using it.

"Hey, Tawny," he smiled, laughing awkwardly. "Diggin' the new look."

Tawny frowned and pushed herself up to her feet without offering to help Endo up. "What the heck are you doing here?" she asked the jackal with lime-green eyes. "I thought you said you were going into hiding with the rest of the gang."

"Yeah, we did go into hiding," Endo confirmed as he stood up and dusted himself off. "But I was worried about ya. Cyon said that you'd been hired by Doctor Eggman to be part of his army. Is that true?"

_Oh, great._

Tawny scratched behind her ear awkwardly. "Yeah," she answered.

"Seems a little dangerous," Endo commented with concern. "I mean, fighting in an army like that? Doesn't it intimidate ya?"

"Not at all," Tawny smirked.

Endo's jackal ears twitched, with his concerned expression still on his face. "So, what exactly are you doing?" he chose to query. "Are you loyal to them, are you our enemy now, are you gonna betray them…?" Tawny merely shrugged her shoulders.

"I just do my job, Endo," she replied simply. "Surely you should know that by now. My loyalties lie where the money is." The coyote then winked. "Within reason, of course."

"Gee, when I first met you, I had no idea you'd be this difficult," Endo sighed, scratching his cheek.

"Relax, I'll do my best to keep the Empire away from you and the gang," Tawny assured him. "Just set up some criminal underground or something. You should be fine, so long as you're not fighting with the Resistance."

Endo looked at her almost hopefully. "You won't let us get captured or turned into robots or anything?" he asked for clarification. Tawny nodded with a smile.

"You ain't gonna get turned into a robot with me around," she stated. "I have my ways of getting my jobs done. Besides, there are a few empire secrets I know already, and let's just say I think we deserve some of the things they have."

Endo's ears perked up as a look of intrigue took over his face. "Do they have anything that could be valuable?" he asked. "Useful to us, maybe?" Tawny nodded again, leaning closer to Endo so that she could whisper.

"Our commander has a jewel that makes him stronger," she explained. "He's too strong to take on, but if I can catch him off guard, I'm gonna tear that thing from his chest and watch the empire decline. Then, the jewel will be for the gang to use."

The green-eyed jackal grinned proudly. "You sly dog," he reacted. "I bet the jewel is valuable if it's powerful. Like the Chaos Emeralds!"

"Yep," Tawny agreed. "But, if I'm gonna get in close to the commander and my other allies, I'm gonna need you to stay outta sight. They can't see that I have ties outside of the empire or else they'll suspect me or find me unreliable. They need to believe in me, so whenever you next see me, don't approach. Stay in hiding with the rest of the gang and avoid getting in Eggman's way."

"We'll do our best to stay far from the war," Endo declared. "Be careful, though, okay?"

"I'll be fine," Tawny assured him. "I've dealt with so many things, Endo. More things than I've ever told you."

"If you say so," Endo replied. "I just don't wanna lose the gang's cool coyote."

"You ain't losing her," Tawny smirked. "If anyone's gonna get lost first, it'll probably be Danger. That mouse is named after the very thing he runs into without a plan."

Endo chuckled. "Yeah," he agreed. "He's younger than us, though. He'll learn to stop being so reckless." The jackal then turned and waved as he began walking away. "I'll see you when this is all over then, right?"

Tawny clicked her fingers and did a gunfire motion at him. "You bet," she confirmed. "See ya later, Endo."

The jackal then made his leave, running off into the forest depths. Tawny could only smile as she watched him go, and then remembered why she was here. Shadow. Of course. She had to find Shadow.

There was a strong chance that Shadow wasn't even in the area anymore, but what could she do? She had no idea where to look for him, and she couldn't contact any of her allies because they were depending on her to be the one to track Shadow down.

Maybe for now it would be best to stay in one place and hope for Shadow to pass by, so Tawny climbed into a tree and sat herself on a branch. From where she was, she could see throughout the forest and hear any distant sounds which may have been out of place, so if Shadow entered the nearby area, she would be able to strike.

Well, she'd be able to strike as best as she could. She still couldn't get her head around why she was chosen to take him down when there were other members of the empire with much more strength than herself.

And she already saw what Shadow was capable of. Tawny, along with her allies, were well aware of what happened between Infinite and Shadow. She had heard it mainly from Remnant and Metal Sniper, since they had been working for Eggman for so much longer. According to them, Infinite used to be someone completely different before Shadow defeated him. Infinite was the captain of a mercenary squad, and was the only survivor of the fight with Shadow.

Not like she had any sympathy for a mercenary.

Mercenaries were no different to bounty hunters, but Tawny couldn't help but hate them. Besides, Jackal Squad deserved it.

The coyote took out her jagged green dagger and examined it thoughtfully. It was one of those things she could barely refer to as a "sentimental" item, but at the same time, she couldn't get rid of it. It made her remember some of the worst times of her life, but at the same time, it made her remember some of the few bright moments, even if they were eventually ruined.

"_The guy who gave you that dagger almost got you killed?"_

"_Yeah. I told him my secret, and the next thing you know, mercenary squads were coming downtown looking for me. Wolf Squad got me and almost killed me. That guy really was just another mercenary."_

"_Well, your secret's safe with me. I promise, I won't ever betray you. You mean more to me than any treasure in the world."_

Yeah, right.

Two guys. One was a mercenary, the other became a mercenary and threatened her life.

Well, they both got what was coming to them.

The one who gave her the dagger was killed by Shadow.

The one who broke his promise to her… well, he was just a remnant of who he used to be.

Tawny shook her head to snap out of her own thoughts, twitching her ears.

Still nothing.

She let out a sigh and just leaned back against the tree, sheathing her dagger before placing her hands behind her head to relax. She was going to wait here for a little long, and if there was still no sign of Shadow, she'd have to report back to HQ.

**~End of Chapter~**


	5. Infinite: The Overseer

**~Infinite: The Overseer~**

Imbeciles. All of them.

Why did the doctor need to have other physical soldiers when he already had the Phantom Ruby's duplicates?

They were useless. All of them. Hopefully they would all die out in the warzone.

Metal Sonic was the least offensive, but he was still a nuisance. Robots usually were. Even the great Metal Sonic was vulnerable to malfunctions and being reprogrammed. And the blue badnik was mostly just unnecessary, considering the fact that the phantom clones of the machine were doing much more damage to the world.

Metal Sniper was a functioning pile of scrap. He was a mistake, but one that cost the doctor a lot of material, hence why the defect had been kept around. Sending that thing out into war was foolish, unless the doctor was just hoping for him to get destroyed in battle. Such a creative death sentence. Hopefully the mass-produced line of Egg Snipers would be ready by then, so that they could do what their prototype model failed to do: obey and destroy.

Remnant, that cyborg fox, was unusual. He was a good fighter and was loyal to the empire, with a strong lust for blood, but Infinite knew who he used to be. Remnant may be pledging loyalty to Doctor Eggman now, but if he suddenly snapped, Infinite had to be ready. After all, Remnant wasn't having his mind controlled by the doctor, and nothing was there to limit his powers if he disobeyed. He was definitely someone Infinite had to keep an eye on.

And then there was Tawny, the one who Infinite had the least information on. A bounty hunter who was known for her shifting loyalties. Thankfully, she didn't have any powers and could easily be dealt with if she attempted to betray the empire, but even so, her cocky personality was infuriating. The doctor had apparently hired her to infiltrate enemy camps and steal information. As useful as that would be, it was a job other allies could easily take if she were to… "tragically" die in the battlefield.

He hadn't heard anything yet from the others, which meant he had nothing to worry about. Then again, he would never worry about anything unless someone suddenly told him that the empire was falling. If the others were to fail at their jobs or die, then that would be something Infinite saw as a nuisance.

Currently, his focus was on the dead soldiers on the ground beneath him. They had made a feeble attempt to fight him, but they failed, as he predicted. They were weak. Their power was nothing compared to his.

A red wolf crawled among the dead bodies, reaching for one of his fallen comrade's Wispons. Infinite caught sight of this and could barely contain his amusement.

"I can taste your terror, child," he mocked, watching as the young wolf flinched and clawed shakily for the Wispon. "All that anxiety and doubt…" Infinite's tone remained mocking, although the slight pause almost made him seem thoughtful for a moment as he watched the wolf tremble and attempt to raise the weapon he now held. But Infinite's sadism quickly returned as he pointed his hand down to the younger canine. "It's delicious." He fired a warning shot from his own hand, which knocked the wolf off-balance and onto the ground. "Give in to your fear," the jackal continued. "Flee screaming, and I'll let you live."

The terror in the wolf's eyes made Infinite chuckle lowly, and gradually it became an amused cackle. He knew that he would be satisfied with either result; if the wolf fled, then he would be entertained by his fear. If he made one final attempt to fight, then he would enjoy putting an end to his miserable life.

Infinite noticed that the boy scrambled to his feet, and for a moment he expected him to charge towards him feebly, but after a brief stare-down, the wolf turned on his heel and sprinted as fast as he could. For a moment, Infinite considered chasing him down and killing him simply because he didn't scream, but the child seemed to have gotten the message. The wolf was well aware of Infinite's power and how unstoppable he was, and Infinite was confident that if he ever saw the boy again, he could easily manipulate his fear.

Remnant's call went through to Infinite's radio, and he silently listened as the fox requested for some assistance with a captive. He had no need to intervene, considering that the annoying little Metal Sniper had volunteered to help out. Infinite would never need to give assistance to his teammates; as he had already told them, they would have to question their own worthiness if they ever needed any real help. Eggman had no time for weakness in his army. The weak deserved to fall.

The city was quick to fall, since Infinite had dealt with the last group of rebels. He took great joy in bringing down a few buildings, but he wasn't going to destroy it entirely. His orders were to make sure that the rebellion was under control, and it was. Anyone he had encountered were either dead or had fled the city entirely, leaving it to the empire. This was a victory to be proud of, but it all felt so easy.

Another call had come in, which infuriated Infinite somewhat. This time it was Tawny who was making it.

"_Hey, guys,"_ she chirped. _"I've been searching the Mystic Jungle for ages, and there's no sign of Shadow."_

This was a call he had to interact in.

"Are you positively sure?" he asked. "It sounds as if you are simply trying to avoid your task."

"_Believe me, I love a good bounty hunt,"_ Tawny replied, _"but I can't find anything that even suggests Shadow was nearby."_

"Then, move to any nearby locations," Infinite commanded irritably. "And if you still cannot find any trace of him, then start to cause trouble for the innocent civilians. Without Sonic, he is the only one to be depended on. He will surely surface if people are in danger."

Infinite wished he could be so confident in that theory, but he hadn't seen Shadow at all during his rampage through the city. Perhaps Shadow was in hiding, or maybe he was dead, too. Both of those theories were disappointing – Infinite wanted to watch Shadow suffer, and if he was already gone, then that meant that he could do no such thing. And if Shadow was in hiding, then that would mean he was no different to the other cowards, like the red wolf who fled the scene earlier.

The world was quickly going to become such a boring place…

**~End of Chapter~**


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